Bad Day
by witchling
Summary: Ever have one of those days where absolutely everything goes wrong? And staying sane requires a little departure from the reality of your life? Max does. Maybe it's time for her to try Escape and Evade in an altogether new way.
1. Chapter 1

A/N: The characters/situations/lyrics do not belong to me. I rent. The song is "Radio" by Goldfinger. I strongly recommend listening while reading to get the vibe. It's short, but there's more… it really should be a Oneshot, but I'm impatient. OK. I believe that's all the nonsense I've got to blabber about for right now… Review.

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**Its 9 O'Clock, she's late for work  
She hates her job; her boss is a jerk**

Today was not her day. Last night she'd barely slept, which wasn't unusual for her but she really needed it. She hadn't slept in a week. What little sleep she did get was interrupted by nightmares. She woke up as she rolled out of bed conking her head on the hard floor of her bedroom. In her haste to turn off the alarm, she accidentally smashed it. She would have to buy a new one. It was worth it though. The little bastard got what it deserved. She burned her breakfast so badly that the fire alarm went off. She'd spent ten minutes madly fanning the fucker before she properly woke up and took the batteries out. She'd forgotten that there were batteries in the damned thing! That should've been it for the 'Max's Sucky Morning' show, but unfortunately fate wasn't so kind. Some mouthy black lesbian, not mentioning any names, used all the hot water so she was left with a freezing shower. Her favourite top got ruined in the wash and she had to search the entire apartment to find her keys. To top off the whole friggin' morning: It was raining. Again.

So after all of that, of course, Max was late. Again. It was only by twenty minutes today but still Normal rode her ass like there was no tomorrow. Normal was all 'How nice of you to grace us with your presence this morning Missy Miss'. She had grunted at that. Whatever. He should be grateful she even showed up.

So of course Normal had assigned her to Sector 12. He had also harassed her every time she came back to Jam Pony to pick up more. Max was seriously considering killing him. Wouldn't it count as justifiable homicide? She was pretty sure everyone in Jam Pony would back her up on that if need be. To avoid the inevitable exposure Max kept her stays in Jam Pony as short as possible. It didn't help her day.

She'd had the worst customers. 26 Argyle wouldn't answer the door. There was someone home. Max had seen him peek through the curtains; he just wouldn't answer the door. 749 Kirkland screamed that the package was broken, even though it wasn't and undoubtedly, the person was in desperate need of their daily dose of happy-pills. Or at the very least anti-psychotics. One of her packages didn't even have an address, but an intersection. 894 Main St. refused to sign for the package because the company had sent her the wrong order. She got sent into the middle of a gang war. And even that wasn't fun. Max had pulled in a grand total of $1.21 in tips. All day. One old bat gave her a penny. A freaking PENNY! And she'd almost been hit by a truck. Clearly, the day could not get any worse. Then there was a small niggling feeling at the base of her spine.

Oh crap. Her pager.


	2. Chapter 2

**Her boyfriend never lets her play  
She thinks she's wasting life away**

Trudging up the stairs to the Fogle Towers penthouse Max wondered if there was, in fact, a time when she looked forward to this. A time before the virus and the mopey looks and the stress and the awkwardness and the guilt and all the other things she knew awaited her. There probably was. However she wouldn't bet on it today.

Surprise! Logan was sitting at the computer, engrossed in something or other. Honestly caring was beyond her at the moment. Tonight was _not_ a night for an Eyes Only mission. It just wasn't going to happen. She had plans. Of course her plans had never interfered with his need to stop the vice of the world before. Tonight it was corrupt City Councilmen. The guy apparently got his rocks off dumping trash in the ocean and pocketing the disposal fees. Bribes were flying furiously throughout the council to shut people up and… Max tuned out. She was restless. Logan looked so serious, it was so important. The world would end and then how would she feel about her failure to do anything about it? Max felt that in reality, if the world ended she wouldn't feel anything, and at the moment she was thinking it might be nice. A good break.

Logan didn't think it was that funny. Or funny at all. Killjoy. Then he fixed his glasses, sighed deeply, and began the routine lecture. Only nine years of torture instructing how to remain straight faced during the worst things imaginable stopped her from rolling her eyes. She was going to kill someone if she didn't scratch the itch that was taking over her. This had not been a good day and she needed to find some way to relax, relieve the tension building. She paced while he talked. It didn't work. Screw it.

The mission was fortunately (or unfortunately depending on how you looked at it) simple. It didn't help with the tension, but it was over quickly. A little sneak and creep, photos here and there, knock out a bad guy or two, "recover" the money used as bribes, and bring back the spoils to Logan. Job done, praise from the not-like-that-boyfriend, and a suspiciously laid out dinner table complete with candles. This was _so_ not going to happen tonight. Now to extract herself with the minimum of fuss…

Well there is not such thing as a no-fuss arrangement. There were looks of saddened longing, yearning, if you will, a dramatic almost-touch and many _many_ deep and heartfelt sighs. She wanted to pull her hair out. Could he not see that she was going crazy here? No. She snorted. He obviously couldn't. Her internal dialogue was cut off with another entreaty to eat and spend quality time with him. Max took a deep, calming breath, and told Logan she had a "thing" a "very important thing" and left.

Maybe an hour or so of riding her baby would help.


	3. Chapter 3

A/N: Wow. It's been a while since I've been here. I have a few things to post, some works in progress etc. I hope you don't all hate me for leaving things hanging but you know how life goes. It's a crazy mofo.

**At 5 o'clock she gets in her car  
She's driving fast but never goes far**

Her baby usually makes everything alright. Speeding down the streets, swerving faster than humanly possible between traffic, pedestrian and otherwise, always made her feel alive. She felt great, like she could do anything, like all was right with the world for just about an hour. Then she hit a pothole. A giant fucking pothole. You'd think, with the pulse and all. That there'd be more potholes that it would be a common experience. But no. Not usual. Just now. When she most wanted to feel free and alive and revel in her abilities. Of course _now_ there would be a pothole. Her bike went flying and she went flying. Different directions. Fuck. As she flew through the air Max had one thought: if there was one single scratch on her baby, she was going to track down whoever was responsible for road maintenance in this god damned city and hang them up by their ankles.

She was going to kill everyone. The motorcycle was not only scratched, but dented. Someone was responsible for _maiming_ her baby! So, soaking wet, face set into a thunderous cloud of disgust and frustration Max trudged through the streets pushing the bike to the repair shop. Not just any repair shop. _The_ repair shop. Only Vinny could touch her baby. On the way to Vinny's, she was splashed 4 times by passing cars, approached 7 times for spare change, had a man with greased back hair offered her a variety of drugs at very reasonable prices and one asshole inquired about her price for performing sexual services. Someone had gone home with a broken arm. And, she thought humorously, it wasn't her. Like a perv like that could afford her. She snorted.

And best of all... Vinny's was closed. Of COURSE Vinny's was closed.


End file.
